Batteries

New virus-built battery could power cars, electronic devices

By Darren Quick

22:22 April 22, 2009 PDT

Be they biological or computer, viruses generally get a pretty bad rap - what with their reputation for infection, reproduction and disease it’s not surprising that their name is actually Latin for toxin or poison. But it's not all bad press - for example geneticists harness viruses to further the study of cell biology and they also hold much potential in the emerging field of nanotechnology where their size, shape and well-defined chemical structure has led to them being used as templates for organizing materials on the nanoscale. Now MIT researchers have turned viruses to the task of building a battery – and they’ve succeeded. Read More

New nanogenerator could charge iPods and cell phones with a wave of the hand

By Darren Quick

21:21 March 30, 2009 PDT

The human body is a veritable powerhouse. Every minute of everyday it generates energy, but unfortunately much of this energy is wasted on mundane tasks like burning calories or keeping internal organs running. What if this energy could be harnessed to do something really useful – like charge your iPod or mobile phone? Technology that does just that - converting mechanical energy from body movements or even the flow of blood in the body into electric energy that can be used to power a broad range of electronic devices without using batteries – has been described by scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Read More

New Nanoscale supercapacitor can store 100 times more energy

By Paul Evans

16:52 March 22, 2009 PDT

It has been a big week for news on advances in energy storage technology. We recently reported on new research that makes a Lithium Ion battery perform more like a supercapacitor, now we can report on research on a supercapacitor that performs more like a battery. Researchers at the University of Maryland and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have developed a supercapacitor with 10 billion nanoscale capacitors per square centimeter, giving it 250 times greater surface area than that of a conventional capacitor of comparable size. The Nano Supercapacitor is being developed primarily as part of a hybrid battery-capacitor system for electric cars. Read More

Theoretical spin battery could see magnet powered cars

By Darren Quick

21:55 March 18, 2009 PDT

Researchers at the University of Miami and at the Universities of Tokyo and Tohoku, Japan, have been able to prove the existence of a "spin battery" that could have significant benefits over chemical battery systems including being much faster, less expensive and using less energy. Read More

World's first all-electric 24-hour endurance motocross race to be held in California

By Loz Blain

20:36 March 18, 2009 PDT

When the flag drops, the bullsh*t stops, as they say in racing, and few sectors in the auto market have as much to prove as electric motorcycles. The performance potential of electric bikes is almost unbounded, with massive advantages over petrol bikes in so many areas - and battery technology is starting to catch up with the market's needs - but until recently, there's been no international competitive showcase for the top level of electric motorcycles. Just this week, the FIM announced a zero-emissions TT Grand Prix on the Isle of Man in June - and paved the way for electric bikes to compete in the future against top-level petrol bikes. Now, off-road specialists Zero Motorcycles are gearing up for the world's first all-electric 24-hour endurance motocross race in California on April 4. The flag has dropped on electric racing. Time to see who's got the goods, and who's been telling porkies. Read More

Lithium Ion Battery breakthrough promises 100-fold boost in performance

By Paul Evans

05:42 March 16, 2009 PDT

Researchers have developed a new advanced Lithium Ion battery that will allow mobile phone and laptop computers to be fully charged in seconds. Electric car batteries may be charged in as little as five minutes, removing one of the main barriers to wider uptake of EVs. Solar and wind power generation could also benefit as better batteries could be used to store surplus energy. Read More

Solar wrapped batteries charge themselves

By Paul Evans

21:45 February 25, 2009 PST

From the files of “why don’t they make that?” comes a rechargeable battery with integrated solar cell charger. The “SunCast” prototype uses flexible solar cells from IFE and some C sized NiMH rechargeable batteries. Scientists at IFE have been experimenting with the production of flexible solar cells and were kind enough to send some samples to the “SunCast” battery designer Knut Karlsen. Read More

Green Wheel - 3 in 1 wireless electric bicycle hub motor

By Paul Evans

21:01 February 23, 2009 PST

A fully self contained bicycle hub motor known as the GreenWheel has been developed by students at MIT that contains the motor, batteries and motor controller all within the hub enclosure. Very similar in concept to the E+ we reported on earlier this week, but taken one step further by combining the batteries together with the motor in a single hub instead of putting the batteries in the front hub and motor/controller in the rear hub as on the E+. Read More

Protonex Soldier-Worn portable power management systems

By Kyle Sherer

14:57 February 22, 2009 PST

Smaller, lighter, and easier to configure than previous models, Protonex' new line of power managers reduce the amount of batteries soldiers have to carry into the field and streamline the recharging of electronics. The latest line feature six configurable power ports and provide troops with greater and easier access to man-packable equipment such as the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver, the Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio, the PRC-119 radio system, Night Vision, BB 2590 batteries, PDAs and solar blankets. Read More

Mophie juice pack air doubles iPhone 3G battery life

By Darren Quick

19:38 February 19, 2009 PST

With battery life still the biggest gripe from iPhone users it’s not surprising to see iPhone accessory maker Mophie adding to their line of external batteries with the Mophie juice pack air for 3G iPhones, which virtually doubles the battery life of the device. Read More

World's smallest working fuel cell

By Darren Quick

20:44 January 25, 2009 PST

People are becoming more and more reliant on the portable gadgets they carry every day and at no time is that reliance more pronounced as when those gadgets’ batteries run out of juice. While we’ve seen some fuel cell technologies appear in recent years that offer the future prospect of powering portable devices, none are quite as small as this new working fuel cell created by US chemical engineers and featured recently in New Scientist that measures just 3 millimeters across. Read More

Tesla to make battery packs for SMART EV

By Paul Evans

22:12 January 15, 2009 PST

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, announced Tuesday in Detroit that Tesla is producing the battery pack for Daimler AG's Smart EV. The companies, which have been partnering on electric powertrain technology for almost a year and a half, will produce 1,000 vehicles in 2009 and 2010, and Musk said the deal could grow into the "tens of thousands" of Smart EVs after that. Daimler already has an existing relationship with German tier one automotive supplier Continential who will supply a 25kg lithium-ion battery pack, with cells from Johnson Controls-Saft, to be used in the new Mercedes S400 BlueHYBRID hybrid-electric car available from the middle of 2009. Read More

GM to manufacture Chevy Volt battery packs in the US

By Paul Evans

20:13 January 12, 2009 PST

General Motors is getting back into the battery business. It had been a two horse race between Korea’s LG and US startup A123 systems to win the supply contract for the Chevrolet Volt. LG Chem and Compact Power Inc. were one team and A123 Systems/Continental the second team selected from an initial field of 27 applicants to compete against one another to build the Chevy Volt’s battery packs. GM announced in September 2008 that it had chosen a battery supplier, but would not reveal which company that was. But has either team actually won? Read More

PowerFilm unveils USB+battery charger based on thin-flim solar technology

By Dave Weinstein

18:17 January 11, 2009 PST

PowerFilm demonstrated a very cool USB+2 AA battery flexible folding charger at CES 2009. We were lucky enough to snap a few pictures of the device and get a look at some samples of their amorphous silicon solar technology for printing cells onto fabric or other materials. Read More

Eight-wheeled Japanese electric supercar shooting for 250mph land speed record

By Loz Blain

00:42 January 8, 2009 PST

January 8, 2009 What's the land-speed record for an electric eight-wheeler? It seems we're soon going to find out. A team of electron-heads at Japan's Keio University have built two of these oddly-shaped supercars, powered by Lithium-Ion batteries and an 80 horsepower electric motor for each wheel. Top speed is expected to be in excess of 230mph, with 0-60 times around 4 seconds already recorded. Power's not an issue, then... What about range? The Eliica's claimed 200 miles per charge puts it right at the pointy end of the field. While each of the prototypes has cost around US$320,000, the team plans to produce 200 units with the right backing. Read More

MSI's Hybrid SSD/HDD notebook

By Kyle Sherer

23:33 January 7, 2009 PST

The MSI U115 Hybrid notebook uses both a Solid State Disk and a Hard Disk Drive, allowing users to switch between them at will. The 1kg notebook measures 26cm by 18cm, with a 10-inch widescreen LCD display (1024x600), and supports 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN and Bluetooth. Read More

Fuji’s new eco-friendly, long-lasting, guilt-free EnviroMAX batteries

By Mike Hanlon

19:34 January 5, 2009 PST

Despite promises of portable alternative power sources, batteries still rule the roost and apart from being a costly form of energy, we all know that we’re contributing a little bit more to the planet’s indigestible waste with each one we purchase – until now! Fuji is announcing a new line of eco-friendly, high performance consumer batteries at CES. EnviroMAX batteries do not contain cadmium or mercury or any ingredients harmful to the environment, are packaged with recycled paper and fully recyclable PET plastic and can be disposed of through normal waste systems or in landfills as they degrade. Fuji is claiming equal or better performance/longevity to the major equivalent brands, and an affordable price. They’re due in stores in April. Stay tuned for more info when we get our hands on a set. Read More

Richardsolo iPod back-up battery

By Emily Clark

20:35 December 4, 2008 PST

RichardSolo.com, the brainchild of founder and former CEO of The Sharper Image, Richard Thalheimer, has launched a new back-up battery designed specifically for iPhones. The pocket-sized RichardSolo 1800 has the capacity to more than double the usage time of your iPhone. Read More

HP announce 24 hour battery for the EliteBook 6930p

By Noel McKeegan

23:10 September 8, 2008 PDT

Many notebooks on the market have us reaching for the power cord after just a few hours of continuous use, but HP's latest announcement promises to let you stay away from the mains supply for quite a while longer. Using with an optional ultra-capacity battery, the company's new HP EliteBook 6930p offers up to 24 hours of battery runtime, a feat achieved by a combination of the battery design itself and energy saving components like LED displays and Intel® solid-state hard drives (SSD). Good news for all of us who have ever wandered around an airport looking for a socket. Read More

The eco-friendly Green Cell mobile phone battery

By Jude Garvey

22:52 February 28, 2008 PST

February 29, 2008 The award winning Green Cell battery design concept is a universal format cell phone battery that's safe, environmentally friendly and can be recharged or replaced at a local vending machine. Read More

Breakthrough lithium battery charges to 90% in just 5 minutes

By Loz Blain

00:29 December 13, 2007 PST

December 13, 2007 Toshiba have stunned the world with their announcement of what's pretty much the holy grail in Lithium battery technology – the Super Charge ion Battery, which recharges up to 90% of its energy in just five minutes, and has a lifespan of over 10 years. Slow charging has been the key hurdle to public acceptance of battery-electric vehicles as viable distance travelers, so this breakthrough has all sorts of implications for the automotive industry as well as being a very welcome upgrade to a whole host of other portable devices. Read More

The human battery: turning body heat into electric power

By Kyle Sherer

23:32 August 5, 2007 PDT

August 6, 2007 Previously ignored energy sources are being revisited as both the global will to conserve energy and the technological means to generate it radically improve. Electromagnetic radiation from our cities, acoustic noise and stray radio waves are now being re-classified as potential power sources and the human body itself is being re-examined as a battery thanks to advances enabling the energy from body heat, motion and even blood pressure to be harnessed. A new thermoelectric system created by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute is at the forefront of these developments - running on a miniscule 200 millivolts the device is able to create an electrical charge from body heat and could lend itself to an endless array of applications that go way beyond powering your own mobile phone. Read More

evDaytona: battery powered sportsbike does 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds

By Loz Blain

July 3, 2007 Although the technology is still relatively new, motorcycles are emerging as a great platform for the launch of the electric engine revolution. While high-powered, light and compact electric engines (like the 350hp monster Killacycle Drag Bike) are already available, battery range has typically been an issue. This is perhaps more acute in relation to electric cars, whereas motorcycles are often used as joyriding fun toys and short-to-medium-range commuters, so a 100 mile range still leaves for plenty of practical and fun uses for electric road bikes. With major manufacturers being slow to put electric sportsbikes on the market, smaller enterprises are blazing a trail - like GoBike, who are awaiting DOT approval on a converted Triumph Daytona, with a max speed around 93mph, a cruising range of 143 miles, and a blistering 2.7 second 0-60mph acceleration time that should make it a blast to ride. Read More

Flexible see-through battery power

By Mike Hanlon

March 22, 2007 All is no longer as it seems – the clear flexible plastic in the image is a battery – it is a polymer based rechargeable battery made by Japanese scientists. Drs Hiroyuki Nishide, Hiroaki Konishi and Takeo Suga at Waseda University have designed the battery – which consists of a redox-active organic polymer film around 200 nanometres thick. Nitroxide radical groups are attached, which act as charge carriers. Because of its high radical density, the battery has a high charge/discharge capacity. This is just one of many advantages the ‘organic radical’ battery has over other organic based materials according to the researchers. The power rate performance is strikingly high – it only takes one minute to fully charge the battery and it has a long cycle life, often exceeding 1,000 cycles. Read More

90 Watt-hour Universal Battery adds 8 hours of Notebook runtime

By Mike Hanlon

January 9, 2007 American Power Conversion announced three Universal Notebook Batteries yesterday and the US$200 top-of-the-line, 90 watt-hour model is a ripper offering roughly eight hours of additional runtime in a slim footprint that can rest underneath a notebook computer. Two USB ports supply power over 5V to USB-powered mobile devices, providing additional opportunities to power and charge accessories, such as an iPod and BlackBerry. The Universal Notebook Battery 90 uses lithium polymer battery cells and has an LCD screen that provides real-time status information such as battery capacity, recharge time and battery load, as well as input and output voltage. More details on the batteries within the article – all three batteries will be available in the first quarter of 2007. Read More